Bride Out of Time
by PleasedAsPunch
Summary: What if it wasn't Donna Noble who showed up on the TARDIS in her wedding dress after Doomsday? What if it was a certain yellow and pink human...who was also wearing a wedding dress? Very timey-wimey stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**Read the Author's Note before you begin, or it'll not make much sense.**

**A/N: I've really screwed with the parameters of canon here. So here's the deal: this technically takes place right after the end of season two when he leaves Rose on the beach. However, it assumes that all the stuff through season four has happened, but the Doctor hasn't experienced it yet; that is, he's left Rose and Ten2 in the parallel universe, but all of that is in his future, sort of like with 11 and River have going on. It's all very timey-wimey, and admittedly fairly manufactured by yours truly. Please don't be angry.**

**I don't own Doctor Who!**

_Chapter One: Runaway Bride_

The transmission ended. He'd run out of time. The irony of the moment rushed over him in a cruel wave. That was it; he'd never see her again.

He flipped a switch on the console, not really paying attention to what he was doing. At this point he was looking to occupy the corner of this brain that was inches from spiraling into panic and hopelessness. He'd never been this close to losing it before, not like this, anyway. He'd suffered at the end of his planet when Gallifrey ceased to be because of him, losing his people and his home in one horrible end.

But this, somehow this was different. It was the same pain, that of loss and futility…and guilt, the most intense guilt he could fathom, but this time as the result of losing one person, Rose, who he knew now anyway, meant more to him than Gallifrey ever did. Maybe he knew that the whole time. It is a truly horrid thing to discover something so profound when it is too late to act upon it. It was the eternal pattern of his life.

He sighed and looked up, seeing a golden flash from just beyond the console. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see, but he certainly wasn't prepared for what was in front of him.

"What?"

"Doctor?" she said.

"_What?_"

"Doctor—what—why am I—is this—am I on the TARDIS?"

"_What?_" he repeated again, seemingly unable understand the reality in front of him. Perhaps it wasn't reality. Perhaps it was some sort of grief-induced hysteria making him see things, because it was completely impossible for Rose Tyler to be standing in front of him, considering he'd only just left her crying in a parallel universe.

"Doctor, what's happened? Why am I here?" she asked with a strange sense of calm. She set down her bouquet—a frothy pink affair that looked very nice indeed— on the console and took a few steps forward.

"You've got a bouquet," he noted. It was about all he could manage right now, obvious observations. "And you've got on a wedding dress. That's…that's not how I left you."

"Well, no, I should think not. It's been a year and a half. But you've not really answered my question, Doctor. How did I get here?"

"I have no idea."

She sat down on the jump seat, exhaling profoundly and leaning her head back in exasperation.

"So I suppose you finally got our TARDIS grown? Oh, should I hide somewhere? Am I in the other room or something? Should I not see my future self? I can't remember if that's a paradox or not."

"What? No, Rose…where do you think you are?"

"My future sometime? Maybe the new TARDIS has grabbed me out of my present and into my future for whatever reason? I was really hoping you'd be able to explain it to me, considering that you're making me miss my own wedding."

"Your wedding?"

"Well, yes. I'd think you'd remember, but then, it isn't as though it's technically happened yet, at least for me, but considering this is my future, I'd hope you'd remember our wedding. It's not like I just go walking around in wedding dresses because they're comfortable and convenient."

"Wait, _our_ wedding?"

"Uh, yeah. Who else would I have married? I didn't end up marrying someone else, did I? That'd be rather horrible of me."

"But we're not _together_."

"No?" A shadow of deep concern fell over her face.

"Rose, this isn't your future. This doesn't make sense."

"When you say we're not together, what exactly do you mean?" She looked around the room more thoroughly this time, and she spotted her shirt that she'd casually throne over one of the railings around the console. For her, that had happened almost four years ago, just before the Doctor had abandoned her on Bad Wolf Bay, before she'd launched herself through different times and universes with the dimension cannon, trying to catch up with him and save the parallel universe from the stars going out. Before he'd left her again at Bad Wolf Bay in that parallel universe with a replica of himself, who she had discovered over the course of time was still the Doctor she knew, was still _him_, just with one heart. Before he'd asked her one day while walking to the chip shop around the corner if she might want to marry him, because he'd really like it if she'd be his wife, and that he loved her.

"How long has it been since you last saw me, Doctor?"

"Well, now about seven minutes."

"What's the year?"

"2006."

"Doctor, I think I'm in the wrong universe."

**I hope it's not too confusing. Or maybe I do enjoy that a bit. Anyway, sense will happen eventually. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: Smith and Tyler_

"Rose, that doesn't make any sense."

"Well, it wouldn't to you," she said. She knew it sounded sharp, but she knew she couldn't tell him anything too important. Telling him about the biological metacrisis definitely counted as something too important.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She sighed and held out her hand out to him so that he would come and join her on the jump seat. He looked at her warily and sat down next to her, keeping a safe distance. For all he knew, she could be a really excellent Rose Tyler imposter.

"I'm pretty sure you would tell me that I can't actually tell you what I mean. But I think it's safe to tell you that you're right, this isn't my future. This is my past…and I'm…I'm from some version of your future."

"Some version?" he asked, his right eyebrow lifting up in confusion.

"I don't think I should say. I don't want to change anything."

"Right. Well, I guess you're…right," he paused and looked up at her. "How am I supposed to know you're actually Rose Tyler and not some…cheap imitation?"

She gasped in shock at his words as they bit into her.

"You don't think I'm who I say I am?"

"It wouldn't be the first time you've been imitated," he said, shrugging. "Tell me something only Rose would know."

She thought for a moment, still hurt by his doubt, but she was determined to prove herself.

"You said once that you can dance, but you never showed me your moves."

"Nope, Jack was there for that conversation. If Jack knows something, the whole universe probably knows."

"Hmm. Fine. Picky, picky… Oh! We were both knighted by Queen Victoria!" she smiled delightedly, thinking she'd succeeded.

"No again! That information might be classified, but it's no real secret of the existence of Sir Doctor and Dame Rose."

_So he was choosing the sneaky little bastard approach_, she thought to herself. She mulled over their time together, thinking of something, some moment that only they shared together—a moment that was just theirs and there was no way somebody else would know about it, that would prove that she was who she said she was, his Rose.

Then it hit her.

"Oh! I've got it!"

"Do you?" he asked skeptically.

She took a moment to smooth out her dress, taking care to keep it nice and unwrinkled. She was glad that she opted out of wearing a veil, though, because the dress itself was really beginning to feel quite warm and pinchy. She wished she'd have just decided to get married in jeans and a t-shirt.

"I do. It's the first thing you ever said to me."

He raised his eyebrow, a motion for her to continue.

"'Run for your life.'"

She was, of course, correct; nobody would have known that but for each other. Somehow this woman beside him was his Rose Tyler, wearing a wedding dress, being cheeky and clever as always.

"It's you," he whispered. "It's properly _you_." He stared at her, her eyes twinkling both with mirth and sadness and he couldn't take it—her sitting just here beside him after he'd just said the most painful goodbye of his life— so he found a very interesting spot on his trainer and focused on it.

"Doctor, look at me." He didn't look up.

"Look, I know you want to," she continued. "You told me once that you rather like to look."

"When did I ever say that?"

"Ah, sorry. I keep forgetting. Can't actually tell you." Her words were apologetic, but her tone was teasing. She realized instantly, though, when she saw the sadness in his face, that she shouldn't have teased him. He was so very clearly conflicted, so full of hurt.

"You know, Rose, I don't know why you're here. I'm not sure why you're wearing a wedding dress and why you say you're late for _our_ wedding when I know for a fact that that's impossible, but you do look absolutely beautiful."

Tears welled up in her eyes. He looked so broken and defeated. He had just said his final goodbye to her moments ago, thinking he'd never see her again. She knew the look on his face because she'd experienced it too four years before. She'd always wondered what he'd done after the transmission ended, whether he went off to his next adventure or what…now she knew, but it still hurt to see him suffer.

"For a human?" she replied, hoping to elicit even the slightest chuckle.

"No, for anyone."

She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him how they found each other and they saved the world again, how he was brilliant, how he shouldn't be so sad because one day they'd be together again, that they would get some version of forever.

"I don't think I'm spoiling much if I tell you that it's not over for us. You've got a bit of a wait, mind, so don't go around getting too mopey, but since when has the universe really been able to keep us apart?"

He gave her a pointed look as if to say, _um, how about right now?_ when it occurred to him that he had in fact been only 2.34:15 minutes without Rose Tyler before some version of her appeared in the TARDIS and he smiled instead—which reminded him—

"How did you get here, Rose?"

"I believe I've been trying to ask you that for the past several minutes and I've gotten about as meaningful a response as that from a mute stone."

"Oi!" he replied, laughing slightly. He looked her over intently this time, aware that he still hadn't answered their mutual question. He had, in fact, no real working idea as to how she got here, but then, she was proving to be a bit distracting…what with being in the room and all. Her mere presence seemed to have that effect on him. While he had to admit that her dress was beautiful—a lovely, simple number that neither clung too tightly nor poofed too widely, and exposed just the right amount of cleavage, he thought, not that he was looking—the first thing he noticed about her was that her hair was a minutely different shade of blonde. And her cheekbones looked sharper, just barely, as if she'd lost the slightest bit of weight. While the Rose Tyler he knew was confident and strong, this woman in front of him seemed permanently changed somehow, as if by loss and battle and sacrifice. Above all, she looked like she had experienced the pain of sacrifice.

So she was more like him now and knew more of the terrible pain that he felt. He could not fathom what could have occurred in her life that gave her such a steeled look behind her eyes. For a moment he felt ill—physically ill, which was unheard of for a Time Lord—that the source of her suffering might have been him. He had in fact just left her in another universe, but he'd done it for her safety. Could his decision to protect her, to keep her alive have caused her to have become so wounded? Though vibrant and strong, and by all means happy-looking, her emotional scar tissue was almost palpable. She was bursting to say something, something that would likely explain everything, and therefore something she couldn't say, something that he would just have to wait patiently for.

Now, though, he needed to focus on what got her here in the first place.

He grabbed his Sonic out of his pocket and held it in front of her, waving it about her form. He looked at the display and his eyes became wide with confusion.

"Oh, blimey, I suppose that explains some things."

**TBC! Please review! And thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It should be noted that I've taken some serious liberties with Huon particles, in as much as a large part of it is made up, because I couldn't actually find a lot about the mechanics of a made-up particle, go figure. Also, I decided "Huon" should be capitalized, just because. Anyway, I hope it's not reaching too far. I tried to reign it in.**

_Chapter 3: Gridlock_

"What is it?" she asked when he continued to scan her without providing and explanation.

"Huon particles."

"Oh, right. Of course. Huon particles. How silly of me, I should have known."

In his relentless scanning he failed to notice the sarcasm that dripped from her voice and he nodded in serious affirmation.

"You're completely riddled with Huon particles." She gave him a beat to explain, but when it was clear that his mind was racing with calculations and possibilities, she cleared her throat.

"I thought all the Huon particles had been destroyed. They'd attract the TARDIS, you see. Or in your case, it seems it attracted you to her. You're absolutely loaded with them…I don't know how that's possible. All the Huon particles were destroyed after the Time War."

"You're telling me that I was pulled out of the parallel universe back into this one because I'm full of a bunch of particles that according to you should not even exist?" she asked.

"Well, yes, I suppose, but the situation _does_ seem highly unlikely. Huon particles are associated with Time travel, and should have been eliminated—were eliminated after the destruction of Gallifrey. And yet here you stand."

He didn't understand what was happening. First, Huon particles really shouldn't even exist, and even if they did, and apparently that was the case, how had it ripped her from one universe to another? His mind flooded with questions, each one compounding upon the next. How had the particles brought her here? How had she crossed universes without a scratch on her head? How is it that she said she was getting married to him when she was clearly from the parallel universe he had just finished leaving her in, when he knew it was impossible for him to reach her there? What event short of the end of time and space would have garbled up the fabric of time enough to be with each other again; and how did he ever reach a point that his conscience would cut him enough slack to let him cease all of his stupid nonsense rules about how Time Lords simply don't _do_ that sort of thing, man up, and tell Rose Tyler that he wanted to be with her? Forever. Or however long she fancied. But if he were being honest, forever was his first pick.

It would have taken something significant, he knew that much. Something universe-bending. Something paradoxical, and maybe even something _wrong_.

"The particles couldn't have come from anywhere else?" she said, and her voice seemed to come from miles away, he was so engrossed in his thoughts.

"What? Sorry."

"I said: could the particles have come from anywhere else that you know of? Or that you don't know of, I suppose."

"Well, they obviously had to come from somewhere, and it's not as if they're just swimming about the universe, you see. Very specific particles, they are. Only hang out in specific conditions. Very dangerous, too-"

"Wait, they're dangerous?"

"Oh, yes! Very. But you'll be just fine. It's why I'm here, after all, looking after Rose Tyler. But anyway, that's why Time Lords destroyed them—very temperamental things. Although…"

She gave him a significant glare as if to coax him into continuing.

"While Time Lords destroyed most of Huon particles…they're still a necessary component of our technology."

"So you mentioned, I think."

"And last time I checked, we're standing in the last bit of Time Lord technology ever to have existed. And if memory serves me correctly, which it does, because I'm brilliant, there's a fair few particles in this old girl's central component." He pointed to the center console as it glowed and whizzed and hummed.

"But how it got into your system, I can't fathom."

Rose raised her hand tentatively, as if she were a shy student reluctant to give an answer.

"Doctor…has it occurred to you at all that there was a moment not long ago—for you, that is—when I opened up the heart of the TARDIS and it went inside my head and I almost died but then…" She was short of breath in recalling the memory. It was what made his face change—when she had caused him to die and he saved her and became this man in front of her.

"…And then I kissed you," he finished.

"Well, yes. I was going to say that you saved me, but that was because you kissed me, I suppose. Thanks for that, by the way." She smiled mildly and tucked her hair behind her ear as she continued. "But you don't suppose, do you, that when I swallowed…time vortex or whatever, that it left some of the particles inside of me?"

"That," he paused, caught somewhere between shock and awe with her, and self-chastisement for not thinking of it himself, "Is entirely possible, Rose Tyler."

She smiled smugly.

"But it does not explain, however, why they've decided to act now of all times, and here of all places, and how it got you from your universe back to this one. I mean, if it was going to bring you here, why not bring a version from this universe, or the version that just left by the sea?"

"Maybe the universe wants you to finish that sentence you started," she suggested, shrugging her shoulders with feigned nonchalance.

He evaded the question. "I don't think so. Since when has the universe ever tried to help me out? Anyway, I don't think the universe really cares either way about anything. Things sort of happen. Or they don't happen. Maybe this time it was just coincidence."

"Is that something you even believe in?"

"It's not something you can believe in or not believe in. It's the simple mathematical reality that humans haven't quite yet grasped that sometimes there isn't an equation that explains something with enough precision, and that margin of error is the mystery of everything— and the universe is not in fact mocking you, but just happened to spit you out into the TARDIS minutes after the worst day of my life because of _chance_, because of _math_, and because it's bloody impossible to account for everything and every scenario and that's why it's possible for you to be here at this moment. " He ended quite bitterly.

"No one's mocking you, Doctor, least of all me."

"I didn't say you were."

They had inched closer and closer to one another as they spoke as if by magnetism. Rose's heart started to beat profoundly fast, both from excitement—from seeing him again, knowing that he hadn't washed his hands of her as soon as the transmission had cut out, from still feeling what she felt for him before, for this specific man in front of her—and from fear of disturbing the delicate balance she had between her Doctor that she was marrying, and this Doctor with the TARDIS.

They were close enough to feel the other's breath, and his hand came up to cup her jaw, his thumb stroking along her cheek.

"I thought I'd lost you forever," he said.

"I thought so too. That's not the case, you know."

"But it's impossible." As much as his senses told him this was real, the absence of mathematical proof of her presence hedged him into the familiar, almost comforting sensation of doubt—doubt yielded results, led to problem solving, though it still did nothing to abate his growing desire to kiss this woman and embrace whatever reality he was currently experiencing.

Before he had a chance to harness his thoughts completely, let alone start the tentative but steady forward motion that would have involved his lips lowering to hers as he would have tipped hers towards his, leading to what he could have only expected to be a very satisfying and long-awaited kiss, she put her hand on his chest, stopping his momentum.

"Doctor," she spoke softly, barely above a whisper. "Doctor, wait." Her voice grew slightly stronger, her certainty winning out against her giddiness. "We can't—we shouldn't. I have to go back."

**TBC!**

**One more chapter after this, and I'm contemplating an epilogue. Thanks for reading! Please review, I love hearing from you! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Again, I've sort of made up some of my own rules here. Author's gotta do what an author's gotta do.**

"_Doctor," she spoke softly, barely above a whisper. "Doctor, wait." Her voice grew slightly stronger, her certainty winning out against her giddiness. "We can't—we shouldn't. I have to go back."_

_Chapter 4: Journey's End, Part II_

"Back?" he repeated in monotone—a question with stale intonation.

She stepped closer to him, attempting to touch him, to comfort him enough to explain, but he backed away, shaking himself out of the hypnosis.

"Right, no. Back. Yes, we'll get you back. Of course." He stepped up to the console, flicking switches and twisting dials and avoiding—at all costs it seemed—eye contact with Rose Tyler. Everything suddenly felt strangely cold and distant, that sharp feeling of rejection that oozed from the Doctor's demeanor.

She sighed. "You _will _be able to get me back, right?"

"Yes, of course," he started. "I mean, I think so. Might take some jiggery-pokery, but I think we should be able to get you back."

There was a long silence filled only with the hum of the TARDIS and the ticks and flicks of the Doctor about the console. He didn't look at her, but looked determinedly at his work in front of him.

For the first time Rose realized how tired he looked. She'd never seen him look so tired during the entire time she traveled with him. His face was almost what you would call haggard, and now, with the creases of disappointment carved even deeper into his face, he seemed bent on just getting by, on operating, on success in its most basic form, but without any of the joy that he used to show when he accomplished it.

Because his day hadn't ended yet, she realized. He'd just finished defeating the Daleks and the Cybermen. He'd fixed the universe again. He'd sealed her off into another universe—they'd had an entire adventure—and he'd burned up a sun to say goodbye. For him it had been mere hours since that heartbreak; he must have been running of the Time Lord version of adrenaline, or some manic belief in the impossibility that one day he would be able to see her again. And here she was, a wish come true, and he thought she'd just rejected him.

"Doctor," she said. "Please listen to me. Come here." She held out her hand palm up. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with profound sadness, and walked over, but he didn't take her hand.

So she took his.

"Doctor, when I said that we shouldn't, I didn't mean that because…I didn't mean that I don't love you any less." She put her free hand on his cheek and tilted his head up so that he was looking at her.

"What I told you on the beach…just moments ago, I suppose, when I told you that I loved you—that's still the case. I still love you. _This_ you." She extended her index finger and poked him in the middle of his chest.

"This me?" he repeated, his eyebrow cocking up. He wasn't sure why she was putting such emphasis on her demonstrative pronouns.

"What I mean to say is," she began, backpedaling from divulging too much information, "You, here, in this wonderful brown pinstripe suit, with your TARDIS and your Sonic Screwdriver, and your two hearts. That love has never changed. It never will, either. No matter what. I need you to remember that. It'll be important in a couple years."

"Important?"

"Yes. Please don't ever forget it. No matter where you go."

"I can't decide if I should be happy about what you're telling me, or if it's the most tragic thing I've ever heard."

"It's a bit of both, I think."

"And you're quite certain that you have to go back?" he asked, knowing the answer, but attempting to will her to change her mind.

"If I don't, then I'll never have gotten here in the first place. It's all very…" she trailed off, unable to think of the right words.

"Timey-wimey?" he finished.

"Yes! Doctor, I'm not sure why I've been brought back here, or if there's even a reason I've been brought back here at all. But you can't deny, y'know, if I'm here in a wedding dress, you couldn't have mucked things up too horribly. I'm alive, after all. And _happy. _ Remember that, too, Doctor. I'm happy. I was so worried that I wasn't going to be happy when you first left me on the beach, and I was unhappy for a while, until I realized that we're supposed to come through for one another. You'd come back for me countless times. I decided I was going to come back for you. And then I got happier, knowing that I had a goal. I was happier because I was trying to be happier. You see?"

"What did I ever do to deserve…" he started, but trailed off before he could finish his thought.

"You asked. Then you asked again. And then you treated me like I was really worth something. You made me feel like I was making a difference instead of wasting my life away in that shop. And you made me feel important to _you_. You let me be your friend, not just your companion."

He smiled broadly at her. This Rose sounded older and wiser. Not that she wasn't a smart woman before, but he could almost taste the experience and confidence rolling off of this one, and he liked it. He liked it a lot, which is why he had to restrain himself from slapping himself—he hadn't told her what he needed to tell her, what he was going to tell her before the transmission cut out and his personal universe collapsed.

"Rose. Rose, I meant to tell you something—what I didn't get to say. Rose, I-"

"Don't say it," she said, cutting him off. "I know—I think I know," she was choking out her words under the threat of a wave of tears. "I think I know what you're going to say. I've always known, really. But don't say it, please."

"Why?" He looked hurt and confused—this was not the reaction he had anticipated.

"Because if you say it, it will make it that much harder for me to go back."

"But you know, though?"

"I do. Just don't say the words. I'm afraid if you say them then I'll disappear without being able to say goodbye properly, like before. It's like those words are jinxed."

"Nah, no such thing as jinxes—but there does tend to be some really horrible timing associated with-"

Before he could finish his sentence—what she was sure was going to be a long rant about nothing in particular—she took a step closer and kissed him soundly on the lips. After a moment when he was clearly taken aback, he returned the kiss much to her pleasure.

It was the kind of kiss that punctuates novels and movies, but without the horrible violin music playing in the background. It wasn't sentimental, and it hardly had enough nefarious intent that would have resulted in a discarded dress, tie, and suit. It was just a genuine kind of kiss—it was like so many other kinds of kisses, but not precisely the same as any of them.

After a few moments, they released, and Rose's head fell to the Doctor's chest.

"That was good, that kiss; good kissing you without someone or something else being inside my head," she breathed quietly.

"I'd say it was more than wonderful, Rose Tyler."

"Quite right, too."

He chuckled as she returned the words that he had spoken to her. This time, they were sweeter, coming from her. Hearing her say them made them sound less desperate and sad.

"I have to go back, Doctor," she began, looking up at him. "You're making me miss my wedding."

"Oh, right. Yes yes." He pointed the Sonic at her and it whirred and buzzed.

"How is it that I'm getting back?" she asked after a moment.

"I think…I think I've got to reverse the polarity."

"Right, of course."

"I mean…I think what I need to do is reverse the polarity of the particles inside of you. Since the current polarity attracted you here, the opposite should send you straight back, and then neutralize!"

"_Should?_"

"Will. I mean they _will_."

"How certain are you that I'll make it back to my wedding in one piece?"

"99.999999999999% sure."

"See, if a human said that, that'd be enough. But since _you're_ saying it, I feel like that's probably a huge margin for error."

"That's hardly fair. You'll get back safe and sound. That's my job, after all, the one thing your mum told me to do—keep you safe. I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was going to work."

She sighed. "So you'll just flip a switch, reverse the polarity, and _POP_, I'll be back in my universe?"

"Precisely."

"When will you be ready to do it? Do you have to calibrate anything?"

"I can do it now. No wait."

So this was it. She was going to go back to her universe, her parallel universe, and marry her part-human Doctor. Her mum and Pete and little Tony would be there, and she would be happy.

But everything inside her told her to stay here with him, because by leaving she'd be breaking that promise that she made him long ago, that she'd stay with him forever.

"I'm sorry," she choked out suddenly.

"For what?"

"For breaking my promise. That I couldn't stay here with you forever and for leaving again. The first time I didn't have a choice, but this time…"

"Rose Tyler, listen to me. We never had forever. Forever isn't even a thing. Time doesn't even have a concept of forever—it's time, more like a ball than a line, bits touching other bits, things overlapping. Our forever is all over the place. I know you wouldn't leave if it wasn't for something important. I know you wouldn't leave here unless you were running after some kind of forever. That's why you're Rose Tyler. It's why I picked you."

She smiled a tragic sort of smile at him.

"I'm going to press the button now, okay?"

She was in the middle of saying something, he wasn't sure if it was agreement or objection, but he pressed the button before either of them could change their minds

As soon as he pressed the button, there was an anticlimactic pop of light, and then there was no trace of Rose Tyler in the TARDIS. Everything was silent, save for the soft hum of the rotor, just as it had been, just as he suspected it would remain for a while.

She was right; she had to go back. And of course, she said this wasn't the end for them, that he'd see her again, that he just had to wait.

But he was really rubbish at waiting. He'd need to find himself plenty of distractions.

Good thing, then, when the TARDIS tore off in what felt like an entirely arbitrary direction, only to find out that he was actually headed for 21st century London.

It appeared there was trouble in Chiswick.

_The End_

**Thank you so much for reading! I really enjoyed writing this fic! I'm planning on a very short epilogue after this. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry that this took so long to update!**

_Epilogue _

There wasn't even time for an uproar, really. There would have been, probably. Jackie would have likely shrieked loudly enough to break a flute of champagne, and Pete would have been on high alert, sending messages to Torchwood, calling for backup, that sort of thing. No doubt there would have been some panic from all the guests, at least a collective gasp—and there might have been, only there wasn't, because there simply wasn't time.

She was gone for such a tiny fraction of a moment that her part-human Doctor had only time enough to register that she had not simply disappeared from halfway down the aisle by mere sleight-of-hand, and that she had been removed, undoubtedly, by something quite timey-wimey.

But as soon as she had gone she had returned, albeit momentarily breathless, and everyone in attendance looked at her in confusion, as if she had just performed some sort of highly-coordinated but poorly-timed party trick.

Rose again braced Pete's arm, this time actually for support instead of performance, and proceeded down the aisle as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Upon reaching her destination, Pete gave her a look as if to say, _I expect a full report on this later, written-up and filed through the correct channels, and you'd also better come up with a decent excuse for whatever that was for our guests at the reception, because I've really got no ideas._

Rose smiled at her makeshift father, and the Doctor—her Doctor—took her hand and gave her a knowing smile.

"So _that_ happened," he whispered quietly so that no one could hear.

"Do you remember all of that now? Where I just was?"

"Down to the very _last_ detail," he smirked, remembering the kiss they shared what was now for him several years ago, but for her just minutes past. "It's sort of like I've known it the whole time, and yet I've only just remembered. It's strange. Paradoxes will do that."

"And you aren't angry?"

"For that, Rose Tyler? For everything you told me? For reminding me that I wasn't alone and that everything was going to be okay when I needed it the most?"

"For leaving you…"

"You never left, Rose," he said, taking both of her hands in his and they turned towards Jake, who had somehow managed to get ordained on some website specifically for this purpose, and were married—the Doctor and Rose Tyler—finally.

**Thanks for reading, everyone! I always appreciate your comments!**


End file.
